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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 2013
Starts off terribly weak and at first looks to have zero redeeming qualities, but once it starts to cut loose and embrace the camp, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is actually pretty fun. Going in, I was unaware of the R rating, but it came as a nice surprise and I think the freedom to let blood and giblets fly everywhere saved this movie from being an absolute disaster to just being a mediocre movie that delivers on its stupid premise.…
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Iron Man 3 2013
Funny, engaging, well-paced, satisfying, and the closest look at the character Tony Stark out of all three movies. Iron Man 3 is all you can ask for, and a perfect end to the trilogy. Bravo, Shane.
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Oblivion 2013
Great first act, falters in the middle, overly schmaltzy in the end.
Gorgeous visuals and decent score make for an enjoyable time at the cinema, but the film as a whole is fairly insubstantial.
Some nice chemistry between Cruise and Riseborough provide the high points of the film, while Olga Kurylenko is either horribly miscast or terribly underused, seeing as all she does is stare pleadingly into the camera. -
Source Code 2011
I find that good sci-fi, and good stories in general, can be measured by whether it makes you ask tough questions about the nature of things. Rewatching this film only reminded me that I will never wake up in a parallel dimension where Michelle Monaghan is my girlfriend, which raises the question what is the point of living when you know true happiness is unattainable?
Q.E.D: excellent film.
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Drop Dead Gorgeous 1999
A black comedy about the politics of small-town beauty pageants told as a documentary. Looked it up because someone during the Oscars telecast pointed out that this was Amy Adams' debut performance which piqued my interest. After watching it I'm more convinced than ever that she would have deserved to win that statuette. Overall pretty funny and with lots of charm.
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Everything Will Be OK 2006
At first, I was like no, everything is not turning out OK, everything is terrifying and sad. But then it totally turned out OK, or at least in a way that opened up for the possibility of things becoming OK, eventually.
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Air Force One 1997
Scott Mendelson from Huffington Post did a pretty cool write-up of this film the other day, which made me want to revisit it, and it turns out it's slightly better than I remember it from the four or five times I saw it on TV as a child, but not by much.
As an action movie, it's competent, but not much more. It's one of the better "Die Hard on an X" movies I can think of in terms of…
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Seven Psychopaths 2012
While not quite as brilliant as Martin McDonagh's last outing In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths is still funny, witty, and sad enough to make for two hours of quality entertainment. The film is very ambitious in its attempts to go meta, and while it gets a little much at times, it's generally handled well. Seven Psychopaths looks great, sounds great, is written well, and has great actors in it. If there's anyone left out there who hasn't seen it yet, it's time to rectify that.
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Les Misérables 2012
Absolutely enthralling. The lukewarm reception this film has gotten doused my expectations somewhat, but sweet baby Jesus, from the very first scene I was completely sucked in. Somehow Tom Hooper and his people have managed to create something that looks like a stage production but feels like living world. The visuals and photography are terrific in that sense, and the constant close-ups on the characters that have gotten much bile from reviewers only serve to make the singing that much…
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2010
A worthy conclusion to an underrated series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader tells a slightly different kind of story than the previous two movies while still staying true to the style of its predecessors. While The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian were much more straight-forward stories both essentially centered around a war, the book Dawn Treader is based on is more of an episodic treasure hunt/adventure tale which doesn't lend itself as well to a single…
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The Fast and the Furious 2001
"I live my life one quarter-mile at a time."
The "Fast and Furious"-series is often derided and ridiculed for everything from hilariously bad dialogue and acting to perpetuating douchebag culture to gratuitous racism. While there is merit to most of these complaints and some of the installments certainly are quite shoddy (not to mention the ludicrous naming scheme), there is a charm and playfulness to these movies that make them the epitome of the "fun action movie."
While many seem…
